Fatma Marouf and Bryn Esplin were denied the opportunity even to apply to serve as foster parents for refugee children by a USCCB affiliate because, they were told, they did not “mirror the Holy Family.”

In a stunning move Tuesday night, the Texas House and Senate ended the month-long special session a full day early. That wise conclusion lifted a cloud of fear from thousands of Texas families because it ended the imminent threat of “bathroom bills” that were pending in both chambers of the Texas legislature.

Lambda Legal and co-counsel Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of six clients against Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the City of Houston to preserve health coverage and other benefits for the same-sex spouses of city employees.

The Texas Senate voted 21-10 on Tuesday to approve SB 3 – a so-called "bathroom bill" – which aims to prohibit transgender Texans from using restroom and changing facilities consistent with their gender identity, and to exclude transgender girls from playing sports with teammates who have the same gender identity. It is yet one more example of extremely harmful, lie-fueled legislation designed to drive transgender people from public life.

The Texas Supreme Court today defied the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges which ushered in the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide, saying it leaves open questions whether Texas municipalities must extend access to spousal benefits including health insurance to the legal same-sex spouses of municipal employees in the same way it does for other married employees.

HB 3859 prohibits the state from punishing foster care and adoption agencies if they discriminate against queer young people or prospective parents who are LGBTQ or of differing faiths, even if the agency receives government funding.

The Texas legislature today is considering several bills and potential amendments that target LGBT Texans – and specifically transgender schoolchildren, LGBT kids in the child welfare system and potential LGBT foster and adoptive parents – for discrimination.